Self-Transformation

October 22, 2014

What Happens to Old Habits?

What happens to the old sanskars (tendencies, habits) and vices, when one has apparently transformed? Do they disappear? Do they get suppressed or transformed into noble sanskars (tendencies, sanskars)? Does anger get transformed into something else? Where do the noble sanskars come from?

Let us imagine a garden in the dark. In the darkness, there is no experience of flowers or colours and it appears frightening and dangerous; a world of insects and bats. When the sun rises and light comes in, the same garden is full of colours, flowers and beauty. Even the sky and the clouds above appear beautiful. All this richness was missed in the darkness.

In the dark, one sees shadows and they might look menacing but, in light, one may see a dear friend and the shadows disappear. Shadows are not suppressed or transformed – they disappear.

Spiritual Richness

In the light i.e. in clarity, we can see the spiritual richness. It is like seeing the prince (soul), his eternal treasures and his sweet and eternal bond with the King; a bond of immense love, equality, respect and recognition. In the light, he notices the noble family of princes (souls), all immensely lovely, harmless, childlike, god-like, worthy of immense love and loving. He notices that he has everything and needs nothing; he experiences his home of contentment, peace and bliss. In the light, he ‘sees’ his security and immortality. For him, the entire physical world appears like a story and that story cannot change anything of his home, the sky. The story appears as a great joke.

Just by talking about light, one wouldn’t see the flowers and colours. There has to be light. In the same way, to have knowledge (spiritual light) necessarily means the experience of fullness and perfection at every level.

With such experiences of richness, fullness and the reality of his eternal wonder, all that can emerge are his natural, noble sanskars and divine virtues. In light there are no shadows. A person who has just won a lottery would not be planning to rob, cheat or beg.

The Play of Light and Darkness

As the light becomes less and less, the same wonder is seen with less and less clarity. Flowers and colours are less attractive. In the atmosphere of darkness, a person cannot see the prince or the King; he cannot see the treasures, the riches, and the wonder. All is there, as always, but he cannot experience any of these things; he feels himself empty and insecure. It is in this darkness that the ‘ghosts’ appear.